Fire Meets Sand: A Gaara Love Story
by KiraXchan
Summary: Miyuki and her Team; Rayne, Shenji and Kira; are all about to take the chuunin exams. When Miyuki meets Gaara, she falls for the cold blooded murderer. Can she touch his cold heart, or will she be added to the ranks of the many shinobi that he has killed?


Fire Meets Sand: A Gaara Love Story

Redone after 3 years

**Chapter 1:**

Bright green and light purple streamers cover the walls of the one bedroom apartment. Three young teenagers sprawl on the cheap dark brown couch, talking idly about the team. Training the last week had been extremely tough—the exams were tomorrow. This was their one day off, and they had decided to celebrate. It was Miyuki's birthday, and she was ecstatic to be that much closer to becoming a chuunin. Being a gennin wasn't that bad, but she wanted to be more than the low class ninja she was now.

Miyuki was almost like Naruto. She was also slow to take on ninjutsu, taijutsu however she excelled at, but she wasn't an all out flunky. Miyuki was the opposite of Naruto in the loud and annoying sect. She was calm, and even though she too had been abandoned as a baby, she didn't go out of her way to gain attention. Her team also didn't dislike Miyuki, unlike Naruto's team. They made it their mission to put him down (or so it seemed to her). Shenji and Rayne cheered Miyuki on with whatever task their sensei put her to, and she excelled, usually. It also took many hours for her to get something down, but her team never left her alone to finish the training. For that she was grateful. But she also harbored a secret from everyone, her team, her sensei, even the Hokage. And she lived with the fear that people would find out, making her become the second most feared ninja in the village of Konoha. Miyuki _didn't _want that label. Bakemono. That name hurt her ears, and hurt her soul, especially when such obscenities were aimed at Naruto.

Miyuki smiles at her friends, putting Naruto out of her head.

"So, what do you think the written exam will be like?" Rayne asks, twirling her platinum blonde hair around her finger.

Shenji scratches at his dark brown hair lazily, his eyes rolled up slightly in thought. "Hmm… I've heard that it's unbearably hard, and that the punishment for cheating is disqualification from the rest of the exams. If one person on a team is disqualified, then the whole team will be disqualified. We'd have to wait until next year to re-take the exam if that happened".

"Kami, that sucks," replies Miyuki, eating another slice of chocolate ice cream cake. Miyuki was an odd one. Loved brownies, hated cake. And frosting too, that was nasty if it wasn't chocolate cream cheese frosting. Shenji and Rayne decided it would be safest to get a chocolate ice cream cake. Boy were they right. Miyuki's smile was bright enough to light a football field. "Thank you so much guys! I can't believe you remembered that I hate cake!" she had said ecstatically.

"Don't be mad at me Miyuki, but I dropped some melting cake on your rug…" Rayne smiles at her friend uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about it Rayne. Kira will get it. KIRA!" Miyuki's dog happily bounds into the room and licks up the ice cream. She works at it for a few minutes, then looks to her master expectantly, wondering about more morsels.

"Wow. Kira just licked the rug spotless," Shenji says, amazed.

"Yeah, she does that. Best floor cleaner I ever invested in," Miyuki laughs, patting her husky akita mix on her head.

Kira was short and stocky, with a long tail that curled onto her back. Her fur was black and tinged with white around her eyes. Her paws and legs were also white and her tail was tipped ever so lightly, looking almost gray. Her eyes were husky eyes, one brilliant blue, the other a beautiful dark chocolate. She was loyal to everyone who showed kindness to her master, but growled and tried to chase down the people who insulted or angered her. Kira was the ideal pet for a ninja. She was fearless, and would fight to the death if she needed to. She trained with Miyuki, and they went on missions together. So Miyuki registered Kira as her weapon of choice. And best of all; Miyuki got to use Kira in the exams. She was undergoing special training with Kiba and Akamaru to strengthen their team, and help Rayne and Shenji learn how to work with a dog. Most days they returned home ready to collapse. Training was intense, but they were always happy with the results at the end of the day.

"How about we have a movie night?" Shenji asks, browsing through the limited selection.

"I don't really have much. I live off public funds so…"

"That's ok. I haven't seen a couple of these movies. There's still something we can watch."

"I'm all for a movie. Since I became a gennin it's been awhile," says Rayne, joining Shenji on the floor to decide on a movie.

"All right. I'm in the mood for a funny or cute-sy movie. Perhaps Up?" Miyuki suggests.

"Fine by me," Rayne grabs the movie out of the short stack.

"I was kinda hoping for a gory movie, like Saw or Pans Labyrinth…" Shenji says a little sadly.

"We get enough gore as ninja," Rayne replies.

"Two against one. Majority rules," Miyuki grins. She takes the movie from Rayne and pops it into the cheap DVD player. "Want to watch the movie short first? It's about how Dug ends up with Carl and Russell. It's actually really funny."

"Sure," both Rayne and Shenji reply, sprawling on the couch. After cracking up at the Doberman's voice and how Dug always foiled the mission to catch the bird by accident, they start watching the movie.

"I bet they're going to get married," Rayne says of Carl and Ellie when they first meet. "I bet they're going to fix up that old house too." Sure enough, her predictions came true. When Ellie and Carl start aging, Rayne says, "Ellie's going to die, and she's not going to see Paradise Falls."

"Would you stop? That is seriously creepy how all your predictions are coming true. Are you sure you haven't seen this movie before?" Shenji asks.

"This movie is just really predictable," replies Rayne.

"Both of you stop and watch the movie." Miyuki says, punching both her friends. Kira looks up at Miyuki to make sure she doesn't need to interfere, and when everyone quiets and returns their attention to the TV, she lays her head back down on her paws. No one says a word during the rest of the movie, all raped up in the plot.

Then: "The house is going land by Paradise Falls again" Rayne says.

"Would you cut it out!? Geez, you were so quiet." Shenji says, irritated.

"Oh quit your whining. I haven't said a word the rest of the movie until now. And there's only a couple minutes left. See? There's the house. Back at the falls. I told you so." Rayne sticks her tongue out at Shenji, who smacks her across the face.

"My Kami, you two are impossible." Miyuki says, rolling her eyes at her teammates and only friends. "If you don't stop you can't sleep over, which I know is what you want."

"Gomen," both Rayne and Shenji reply, smiling sheepishly. Kira growls at them, telling the teenagers that they are to behave. Arguing isn't tolerated in Kira's house, and she _will _kick them out. Well, not Miyuki, just the other two.

"Guys, just get ready for bed. We need to be ready for the exams tomorrow. Sensei says we are applying all our knowledge in these exams. Plus we're fresh out of the academy, so this is going to be a struggle for us compared to the other villages that are coming." Miyuki says, putting some authority into her voice. Normally Miyuki is the quite one, who listens and doesn't talk. But, when she does speak, there is always something worth listening to that comes out of her mouth.

"Alright, alright." Shenji says, settling down on the couch.

"I'll sleep with you then," Rayne says, "not you." Shenji had grinned and patted the couch next to him.

"Aww… You don't want to be with me?"

"Aside from being my team mate, and _friend_, you are nothing more. And you are a boy, so I'll be staying with Miyuki."

"That makes me a little hot under to collar."

"Man, you are so _gross_." Rayne says, rolling her eyes and following Miyuki to her room.

"Good night Shenji. Kira, watch him." Miyuki orders before shutting the door. Kira looks at Shenji, her blue eye and brown eye flashing.

"Don't worry Kira. I'll stay right here." Shenji says nervously, lying back down on the couch. Kira lies down, but continues to watch him, her eyes glowing slightly in the dark. Shenji shivers and rolls over, not wanting to look at Kira's creepy eyes any longer.

123

The next morning, Miyuki dresses into a special outfit she had set aside for this day. First over her black bra, she put on her black ninja meshing that was long enough to go down to her elbows, and short enough that it stopped just below her breasts. Next a thin, almost see through black silk top than had thin spaghetti straps that tied around her neck. It was just a little longer than her meshing, and it revealed the ai tattoo on her right shoulder blade. Her back was almost completely bare of covering, except for the small bit of ninja meshing and the two inches to the back of her shirt, keeping it on her body, barely. This ensemble showed off her stomach muscles nicely, along with her shapely body.

She had C cups already, as a fourteen year old, and though she was quiet, it was a quiet strength. Miyuki enjoyed wearing clothing that showed off her strength, and showed off her natural attributes. Her sensei took her aside to teach her the ways of being a Kunoichi, and at first, wearing skimpy clothing went against her better judgment. But after a few months of specialty clothing being picked out for her, she enjoyed shopping for herself and buying clothes a good Kunoichi would wear. And this outfit was by far one of her most provocative. She knew that most of the boys were going to be holding back nosebleeds today. _Just wait until tomorrow, _she thought to herself, _my outfit will barely cover me, and the opposition will hopefully be too mesmerized by my body to notice my teammates as they go in for the kill._

For her bottoms, Miyuki puts on a short skort that slits at the thigh and sits low on her hips. This was also black; she was saving her colored outfit for tomorrow. Her left leg is taped just below her skirt, her weapons pouch attached there. Now for her raven locks. Her hair reached the middle of her back, with bangs that came to the bridge of her nose. She wets her hair and braids it into two low pigtails. Next, with a hairdryer, she dries the braids out. When they are completely dry she undoes the braids and admires her pin-straight hair gone wavy. Deciding that her hair is too long, she bunches it just below her shoulders and cuts it off. _Much better_, Miyuki thinks to herself. She admires herself in the mirror for a few more seconds before turning to Rayne and waking her.

"Wah…?" Rayne asks sleepily, looking over her shoulder. "What the _fuck _are you wearing!?" Rayne exclaims, her eyes bugging out of her head.

"It's my Kunoichi outfit… Don't you like it?" Miyuki asks shyly. "I could put something else on if you wish…"

"N-No, I was just surprised is all. Is that to distract our opposition?"

"Yes, although today is just the written exam… I wanted to have everyone look at me. See that I'm not weak."

"But we already know you aren't weak." Rayne says, getting out of bed and moving to her pack.

"Yeah. But other people don't."

"Stop being insecure. You're great when you tap into that strange white chakra of yours." Rayne responds, pulling her usual ninja outfit out.

"…" Miyuki doesn't answer, afraid of saying something that will scare away her best friend. "I'm going to go wake Shenji…"

"Don't give him a nose bleed!" Rayne giggles, pulling on her pink ninja mesh and bright neon pink capris, followed by a pink Konoha headband around her thigh.

Miyuki walks out her bedroom door, closing it behind her. She strides over to Shenji, shakes him awake gently, and then heads for the kitchen, looking for Kira. She spots her at the door, ready to go out. "Hold on girl. You need your headband." Miyuki puts a black, studded collar with the standard spiral leaf symbol around Kira's neck, the faceplate shining in the sun. Then the door is opened and Kira races away. "Ten minutes!" Miyuki shouts after her bounding form.

"Good morning Miyu- OH MY KAMI!" Shenji takes one look at his teammate and reels back with a nosebleed. He rushes to the sink and grabs a wad of paper towels.

Miyuki grins, placing her hands suggestively on her hips, sashaying over to her teammate. "Is something wrong Shenji-kun?" She whispers by his ear.

"N-n-no." Shenji says hoarsely.

"Miyuki…" Rayne says, flattening her black short-sleeved shirt against her stomach.

"I couldn't help it. He got an insta-bleed…" Miyuki grins dangerously.

"Save your Kunoichi training for the opposition, please?" Shenji whines. Miyuki and Rayne look over at Shenji, and both snigger at the tent, no _fort _in his pants.

"What's the matter Shenji-kun? Having some problems?" Rayne teases, making him blush.

"Don't make fun of me…"

"We can't help it. You look miserable." Rayne continues.

"You're not the one suffering from a hard-on because your fellow teammate decided to dress provocatively and not _warn _anyone…Then not be able to act upon it. I _know _Miyuki won't put out for anyone. She just likes teasing."

"She wasn't like this in the beginning, remember?"

"True. Sensei made me this way. Changed my thought process." Miyuki says.

Shenji grumbles, thinks disturbing thoughts to get himself down, then goes back into the living room. "I'm ready." He says, picking up his pack.

Miyuki calls for Kira, and all three gennin head out the door, ready to face the chuunin exams.


End file.
